Communication Through Phase-Conjugated Optical Variants

ABSTRACT

An optical transport system configured to transmit at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying the same modulated symbols, with the phase-conjugated optical variants in being different from one another in one or more of polarization of light, the time of transmission, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency during transmission. The two phase-conjugated optical variants can be generated by a single polarization-diversity transmitter to be orthogonally polarized, and propagate through an optical transmission link with the same wavelength and spatial path. The optical variants are detected and processed at the receiver in a manner that enables coherent summation of the corresponding electrical signals prior to constellation de-mapping. The coherent summation tends to cancel out the deleterious effects of nonlinear distortions imparted on the individual phase-conjugated optical variants in an optical fiber transmission link because said nonlinear distortions tend to be opposite to each other.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/535,548, filed on Sep. 16, 2011, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/245,160, filed on Sep. 26, 2011, both entitled “PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT THROUGH OPTICAL VARIANTS,” which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The invention(s) relate to optical communication equipment and, more specifically but not exclusively, to equipment for managing data transport through a nonlinear and/or noisy optical channel.

2. Description of the Related Art

This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the invention(s). Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.

Forward error correction (FEC) uses systematically generated redundant data to reduce the bit-error rate (BER) at the receiver. The cost of this reduction is a concomitant increase in the required forward-channel bandwidth, with the latter being dependent on the overhead of the FEC code. In general, an FEC code with a larger overhead or lower net data rate is used for a noisier channel. When the channel conditions change over time, the net data rate and/or the FEC code can be adaptively changed to maintain an acceptable BER. However, one problem with FEC coding, as applied to optical transport systems, is that the coding-gain differences among various implementable FEC codes usually do not exceed a certain maximum value, as given by Shannon's information capacity theory. In addition, the digital signal processing (DSP) complexity for capacity-approaching FEC codes can be forbiddingly high. Therefore, for certain optical channels, additional and/or alternative performance-enhancement techniques may be needed to overcome these and other pertinent limitations of FEC coding.

SUMMARY

Improvement in the quality of an optical signal after transmission may be obtained by performing digital constructive summation of a set of two or more optical variants. Optical variants are correlated optical signals which carry the same piece of payload data, bit-word, or bit sequence but differ from each other in at least one of their degrees of freedom, e.g., in one or more of the time of transmission, spatial localization, polarization of light, optical carrier wavelength and subcarrier frequency. The constructive summation tends to average out the deleterious effects of both linear and nonlinear noise/distortions imparted on the individual optical variants in the optical transport link because said noise/distortions are incoherent in nature. The optical variants can be the same as the original optical signal intended for transmission, or phase-scrambled copies of original signal.

Nonlinear distortions imparted on two phase-conjugated signals can be essentially opposite to each other when the phase conjugation is removed at the receiver. Therefore, when two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying the same modulated payload symbols are coherently summed after removing the phase conjugation between them, the nonlinear distortions imparted on the two phase-conjugated optical variants would essentially cancel. This methodology effectively improves signal quality after nonlinear fiber transmission, beyond that which can be achieved by coherently summing two optical variants that are either the duplicated copies or phase-scrambled copies of a same optical signal. In one embodiment, the two phase-conjugated optical variants can differ from one another in one or more of polarization, time, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency during optical transmission. Two “phase-conjugated optical variants” refers to two optical variants that are complex conjugates after removing a constant phase offset and/or time delay between them. Further, more than two phase-conjugated optical variants may be utilized in the provided methodology; in those instances, the third, fourth, etc. phase-conjugated optical variant is a copy of one of first two complex conjugates after removing a constant phase offset and/or time delay from the third, fourth, etc. phase-conjugated optical variant.

According to a first embodiment, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are orthogonally polarized, and are generated by a polarization-diversity transmitter and share the same wavelength and spatial path in an optical fiber transmission link. A polarization-diversity receiver is used to receive the at least two orthogonal polarization components and jointly process them to recover the transmitted optical variants. Then, the phase conjugation between these two variants is removed, before the variants are constructively summed to provide a constellation representation of the original signal.

According to a second embodiment, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants for an optical signal intended for transmission are time delayed with respect to each other by T, which may be multiple modulation symbol periods, and modulated onto a polarization component of a Polarization Division Multiplexed (PDM) signal. At the receiver, the time delay and the phase conjugation between these two variants are removed, before their constructive summation to provide a constellation representation of the original signal.

According to a third embodiment, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are modulated onto different optical carrier wavelengths, and are wavelength-division multiplexed for transmission. These wavelengths can travel through the same spatial path in an optical fiber transmission link. At the receiver, these optical variants are first wavelength-division de-multiplexed and jointly processed. Then, the phase conjugation between these variants is removed, before they are constructively summed to provide a constellation representation of the original signal.

According to a fourth embodiment, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are space-division multiplexed for transmission. These at least two optical variants can travel through different cores of a multicore fiber link or different spatial modes of a multi-mode fiber as long as the nonlinear effects impacting them are approximately the same. At the receiver, these at least two optical variants are first space-division de-multiplexed, either optically or digitally, and jointly processed. Then, the phase conjugation between these at least two variants is removed, before they are constructively summed to provide a constellation representation of the original signal.

As the linear noises impacting each of the optical variants is uncorrelated, the constructive summation process aforementioned also effectively increases the optical signal-to-noise (OSNR). Together with the cancellation of nonlinear distortions, the use of phase-conjugated optical variants in a constructive summation process can substantially improve the signal quality in long-haul optical fiber transmission. In various embodiments, the signal quality improvement or the reduction in the received bit error ratio (BER) enabled by the use of optical variants can be implemented in addition to or instead of that provided by FEC coding.

In an embodiment, an apparatus includes optical receiver comprises a front-end circuit and a processor. The front-end circuit is configured to convert at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying a same modulated payload symbol into a corresponding plurality of digital electrical signals. The processor is configured to process the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate a set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol, sum the complex values of the set to generate a summed complex value, map the summed complex value onto a constellation, and determine based on the mapped summed complex value a bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol.

In another embodiment, the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants differ from one another in one or more of polarization, time of arrival at the optical receiver, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency.

In another embodiment, the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are complex conjugates in the time domain. In another embodiment, the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are complex conjugates in the frequency domain.

One of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants may include an optical version of a symbol for transmission. Another of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants may include a complex conjugate version of the optical version of the symbol for transmission with a constant phase rotation.

In one embodiment, the processor is configured to undo phase conjugation and undo phase rotation of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants, and generate a complex value representing the symbol intended for transmission.

The at least two phase-conjugated optical variants may be orthogonally polarized. In another embodiment, the apparatus may include a polarization-diversity transmitter for generating at least two orthogonally-polarized phase-conjugated optical variants.

In one embodiment, the front-end circuit includes at least one polarization-diversity optical hybrid and at least one optical local oscillator. In another embodiment, the front-end circuit includes at least four analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs).

In one embodiment, the front-end circuit includes a wavelength de-multiplexer configured to de-multiplex the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants. In yet another embodiment, the front-end circuit includes an optical coupler configured to spatially de-multiplex the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants.

In one embodiment, the apparatus may also include a medium for conveying the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants, wherein the medium is one or more of single-mode fiber, multi-core-fiber, fiber bundle, and multi-mode fiber.

In one embodiment, the processor may determine the bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol by determining a FEC-based error correction based on a sequence of mapped constellations for a sequence of same modulated payload symbols. In another embodiment, processing the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate the set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol may include performing one or more of time synchronization, channel estimation, channel compensation, frequency estimation, frequency compensation, phase estimation, and phase compensation. This processing of the digital electrical signals may include the use of pilot symbols.

In one embodiment, the apparatus of claim 1 may also include an optical transmitter configured to generate a second set of at least two phase-conjugated optical variants in response to a symbol of an input payload data stream, the at least two optical variants of the second set differing from one another in one or more of polarization, time of transmission, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency.

An example method of optical communication includes converting, at an optical receiver, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying a same modulated payload symbol into a corresponding plurality of digital electrical signals; processing the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate a set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol; summing the complex values of the set to generate a summed complex value; mapping the summed complex value onto a constellation; and determining based on the mapped summed complex value a bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol.

According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes an optical transmitter configured to generate at least two phase-conjugated optical variants in response to a symbol of an input payload data stream, the at least two optical variants differing from one another in one or more of polarization, time of transmission, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and benefits of various embodiments of the invention will become more fully apparent, by way of example, from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method that can be implemented in the receiver of the optical transport system shown in FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method that can be implemented in the receiver of the optical transport system shown in FIG. 1 according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system according to yet another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method that can be implemented in the receiver of the optical transport system shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 according to one embodiment of the invention;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An optical transport link is typically configured to support multiple degrees of freedom, such as time, space, carrier frequency (wavelength), and polarization. Each of these degrees of freedom can be used for optical-signal multiplexing. Multiplexing techniques corresponding to these four different individual degrees of freedom are referred to in the literature as time-division multiplexing, space-division multiplexing, wavelength-division multiplexing, and polarization-division multiplexing.

In addition to or instead of using the various degrees of freedom supported by an optical transport link for multiplexed transmission of independent optical signals, various embodiments of the invention employ these degrees of freedom for the transmission of correlated optical signals, referred to as optical variants. In a representative embodiment, two optical variants are two optical signals that carry the same piece of payload data, bit-word, or bit sequence, but differ from each other in the way they carry the payload data: these two optical variants are complex conjugates.

Assuming that the E-field of an optical signal intended for transmission is E, the E-field of one of the two optical variants can be E, and the other can be E*, where “*” denotes complex conjugate.

Here, introduced is a more general term “phase-conjugated optical variants”, which refers to two optical variants that are complex conjugates after removing a constant phase offset and/or time delay between them. By complex conjugates is meant a pair of complex numbers, both having the same real part, but with imaginary parts of equal magnitude and opposite signs. For example, E₁(t) and E₂(t) are phase-conjugated optical variants of E(t) when the following conditions are satisfied

E ₁(t−t ₁)=exp(jφ ₁)·E(t),

E ₂(t−t ₂)=exp(jφ ₂)·E(t)*,  (1)

where j denotes the imaginary unit, t denotes time, t₁ and t₁ are time offsets, and φ₁ and φ₂ are phase offsets. From the above equations, we have

E ₁(t−t ₁)=exp[j(φ₁+φ₂)]·E ₂(t−t ₂)*,  (2)

i.e., E₁(t) and E₂(t) are complex conjugates after removing a constant phase offset of (φ₁+φ₂) and a time delay of (t₁−t₂). When there are more than two phase-conjugated optical variants, the additional phase-conjugated optical variants take the form:

E _(n)(t−t _(n))=exp(jφ _(n))·E(t), or

E _(n)(t−t _(n))=exp(jφ _(n))·E(t)*,  (3)

where n is 3, 4, . . . .

These two phase-conjugated optical variants are transmitted over an optical transmission link in different dimensions, e.g., in one or more of the time of transmission, spatial localization, polarization of light, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency. For example, a first transmission of an optical symbol using a first (e.g., X) polarization and a second transmission of that same optical symbol using a second (e.g., Y) polarization represent two different optical variants of the bit-word that the optical symbol encodes. As a second example, a first transmission of an optical symbol at time t1 and a second transmission of that same optical symbol at time t2>t1 represent two different optical variants of the bit-word that the optical symbol encodes. As a third example, a first transmission of an optical symbol using carrier wavelength λ₁ and a second (e.g., concurrent) transmission of that optical symbol using carrier wavelength λ₂ similarly represent two different optical variants of the bit-word that the optical symbol encodes. As a fourth example, a first transmission of an optical symbol via a first propagation path of a multipath fiber or fiber-optic cable (e.g., via a first core of a multi-core fiber or a first guided mode of a multi-mode fiber) and a second transmission of that optical symbol via a second propagation path of that multipath fiber or fiber-optic cable (e.g., via a second core of the multi-core fiber or a second guided mode of the multi-mode fiber) represent two different optical variants of the bit-word that the optical symbol encodes.

Note that, in each of these examples, the two corresponding optical variants are described as differing from one another in the parameters of just one degree of freedom. However, optical variants may differ from one another in the parameters of two or more degrees of freedom, such as: (i) polarization and time; (ii) time and space; (iii) time and wavelength; (iv) space and wavelength; (v) space and polarization; (vi) wavelength and polarization; (vii) time, space, and wavelength; (viii) time, space, and polarization; (ix) time, wavelength, and polarization; (x) space, wavelength, and polarization; or (xi) time, space, wavelength, and polarization.

The concept of optical variants also applies to (i) optical symbol sequences that carry multiple bit-words and (ii) optical signals that carry the same bit-word using different optical symbols. Further, more than two phase-conjugated optical variants may be transmitted/received over an optical path according to the principles of the invention. Assuming that the E-field of an optical signal intended for transmission is E, the E-field of the third, fourth, etc. optical variant can be either E or E*, where “*” denotes complex conjugate. Other pertinent features of “optical variants” will become more fully apparent, by way of example, from the following more detailed description that is given below in reference to FIGS. 1-6.

Various embodiments rely on an inventive concept, according to which the receiver adds, in a phase-coherent manner, the electrical signals corresponding to at least two phase-conjugated optical variants of the same symbol stream prior to de-modulation and de-coding. Each pair of phase-conjugated variants are conveyed from the transmitter to the receiver on orthogonal transmission paths or dimensions, but experience similar nonlinear effects, which in effect impart opposite nonlinear distortions on these variants when the phase conjugation between the pair is removed. Accordingly, while the number of phase-conjugated optical variants utilized in any one embodiment may be even or odd, the use of a larger number of phase-conjugated optical variants is preferable to minimize nonlinear effects when the number is odd.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system 100 according to one embodiment of the invention. System 100 has an optical transmitter 110 that is configured to transmit optical variants that differ from each other in polarization or time, or both. System 100 also has an optical receiver 190 that is configured to process the received optical variants to recover the corresponding original data in a manner that reduces the BER compared to the BER attainable without the use of optical variants. Transmitter 110 and receiver 190 are connected to one another via an optical transport link 140.

Transmitter 110 receives an input stream 102 of payload data and applies it to a digital signal processor (DSP) 112. Processor 112 processes input stream 102 to generate digital signals 114 ₁-114 ₄. In each signaling interval (time slot), signals 114 ₁ and 114 ₂ carry digital values that represent the in-phase (I) component and quadrature (Q) component, respectively, of a corresponding constellation symbol intended for transmission using X-polarized light. Signals 114 ₃ and 114 ₃ similarly carry digital values that represent the I and Q components, respectively, of the corresponding constellation symbol intended for transmission using Y-polarized light.

An electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter (also sometimes referred to as a front end) 116 of transmitter 110 transforms digital signals 114 ₁-114 ₄ into a modulated optical output signal 130. More specifically, digital-to-analog converters (DACs) 118 ₁ and 118 ₂ transform digital signals 114 ₁ and 114 ₂ into an analog form to generate drive signals I_(X) and Q_(X), respectively. Drive signals I_(X) and Q_(X) are then used, in a conventional manner, to drive an I-Q modulator 124 _(X). Based on drive signals I_(X) and Q_(X), I-Q modulator 124 _(X) modulates an X-polarized beam 122 _(X) of light supplied by a laser source 120 _(X), thereby generating a modulated optical signal 126 _(X).

DACs 118 ₃ and 118 ₄ similarly transform digital signals 114 ₃ and 114 ₄ into an analog form to generate drive signals I_(Y) and Q_(Y), respectively. Based on drive signals I_(Y) and Q_(Y), an I-Q modulator 124 _(Y) modulates a Y-polarized beam 122 _(Y) of light supplied by a laser source 120 _(Y), thereby generating a modulated optical signal 126 _(Y). A polarization beam combiner 128 combines modulated optical signals 126 _(X) and 126 _(Y) to generate optical output signal 130.

In a representative configuration, processor 112 generates digital signals 114 ₁-114 ₄ so that, for each bit-word to be transmitted to receiver 190, optical output signal 130 contains at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying that bit-word. Conceptually, this set of phase-conjugated optical variants can be viewed as comprising one or more overlapping and/or non-overlapping subsets. For example, there might be a subset consisting of two or more phase-conjugated optical variants, in which the phase-conjugated optical variants have the same polarization, but different temporal positions in signal 130. Alternatively or in addition, there might be another subset consisting of two phase-conjugated optical variants, in which the phase-conjugated optical variants have the same temporal position (the same time slot) in signal 130, but different polarizations. Furthermore, there might be yet another subset consisting of phase-conjugated optical variants, in which the phase-conjugated optical variants have different temporal positions in signal 130 and different polarizations.

In one embodiment, two phase-conjugated optical variants are carried by orthogonal polarization components. In this case, signals 114 ₁, 114 ₂, 114 ₃, and 114 ₃ can be arranged to meet the following conditions

I _(x)(t)=real(E(t)), Q _(x)(=imag(E(t)),

I _(y)(t)=real(E(t−τ), Q _(y)=−imag(E(t−τ)),  (4)

where E is the E-field of the original signal intended for transmission, and t is a time delay that can be zero or multiple modulation symbol periods.

In another embodiment, two phase-conjugated optical variants are carried by one polarization component but at different time intervals. In this case, signals 114 ₁, 114 ₂, 114 ₃, and 114 ₃ can be arranged to meet the following conditions

-   -   (1) For t=nT, nT+1, nT+2, . . . , (n+1)T−1,

I _(x)(t)=real(E(t)), Q _(x)(t)=imag(E(t)),

I _(y)(t)=real(E(t+T)), Q _(y)(t)=imag(E(t+T)),  (5)

-   -   (2) For t=(n+1)T, (n+1)T+1, (n+1)T+2, . . . , (n+2)T−1,

I _(x)(t)=real(E(t−T)), Q _(x)(t)=−imag(E(t−T)),

I _(y)(t)=real(E(t)), Q _(y)(t)=−imag(E(t)),

where n is an integer, and T is a time interval which can be, for example, many modulation symbol periods.

The processor 112 may also add pilot symbols and/or pilot-symbol sequences to each of signals 114 ₁, 114 ₂, 114 ₃, and 114 ₃. One purpose of the added pilot symbols and/or pilot-symbol sequences is to form an optical frame having a well-defined structure. This structure can be used at receiver 190 to distinguish the optical symbols corresponding to the payload data from the pilot symbols/sequences, and to ensure the phase alignment between the optical variants. The pilot symbols/sequences can then be used to perform one or more of (i) time synchronization, (ii) channel estimation and compensation, (ii) frequency estimation and compensation, and (iv) phase estimation and compensation. An enabling description of possible frame structures and suitable pilot symbols/sequences can be found, e.g., in commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/964,929 (filed on Dec. 10, 2010), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

System 100 has an optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) configured to add signal 130, as known in the art, to other optical signals that are being transported via optical transport link 140. Link 140 is illustratively shown as being an amplified link having a plurality of optical amplifiers 144 configured to amplify the optical signals that are being transported through the link, e.g., to counteract signal attenuation. Note that an optical link that does not have optical amplifiers can alternatively be used as well. After propagating the intended length of link 140, signal 130 is dropped from the link via another optical add-drop multiplexer, OADM 146, and directed to receiver 190 for processing. Note that the optical signal applied to receiver 190 by OADM 146 is labeled 130′, which signifies the fact that, while in transit between transmitter 110 and receiver 190, signal 130 may accumulate noise and other signal distortions due to various linear effects and nonlinear effects in the optical fiber. One type of a fiber nonlinear effect is intra-channel four-wave mixing (IFWM), which is a function of the phases and amplitudes of the corresponding optical symbols.

Receiver 190 has a front-end circuit 172 comprising an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter 160, four analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) 166 ₁-166 ₄, and an optical local oscillator (OLO) 156. O/E converter 160 has (i) two input ports labeled S and R and (ii) four output ports labeled 1 through 4. Input port S receives optical signal 130′. Input port R receives an optical reference signal 158 generated by optical local oscillator 156. Reference signal 158 has substantially the same optical-carrier frequency (wavelength) as signal 130′. Reference signal 158 can be generated, e.g., using a tunable laser controlled by a wavelength-control loop (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1) that forces an output wavelength of the tunable laser to closely track the carrier wavelength of signal 130′.

O/E converter 160 operates to mix input signal 130′ and reference signal 158 to generate eight mixed optical signals (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1). O/E converter 160 then converts the eight mixed optical signals into four electrical signals 162 ₁-162 ₄ that are indicative of complex values corresponding to the two orthogonal-polarization components of signal 130′. For example, electrical signals 162 ₁ and 162 ₂ may be an analog in-phase signal and an analog quadrature-phase signal, respectively, corresponding to the X-polarization component of signal 130′. Electrical signals 162 ₃ and 162 ₄ may similarly be an analog in-phase signal and an analog quadrature-phase signal, respectively, corresponding to the Y-polarization component of signal 130′.

In one embodiment, O/E converter 160 is a polarization-diverse 90-degree optical hybrid (PDOH) with four balanced photo-detectors coupled to its eight output ports. Various suitable PDOHs are commercially available, e.g., from Optoplex Corporation of Fremont, Calif., and CeLight, Inc., of Silver Spring, Md. Additional information on various O/E converters that can be used to implement O/E converter 160 in various embodiments of system 100 are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2010/0158521 and 2011/0038631, and International Patent Application No. PCT/US09/37746 (filed on Mar. 20, 2009), all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Each of electrical signals 162 ₁-162 ₄ generated by O/E converter 160 is converted into digital form in a corresponding one of ADCs 166 ₁-166 ₄. Optionally, each of electrical signals 162 ₁-162 ₄ may be amplified in a corresponding amplifier (not explicitly shown) prior to the resulting signal being converted into digital form. Digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄ produced by ADCs 166 ₁-166 ₄ are processed by a digital signal processor (DSP) 170, e.g., as further described below in reference to FIG. 3, to recover the data of the original input stream 102 applied to transmitter 110.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method 200 that can be employed by processor 170 (FIG. 1) to recover data stream 102 from digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄ according to one embodiment of the invention where phase-conjugated optical variants are carried on two orthogonal polarization states of a same wavelength channel.

At step 201 of method 200, digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄ are processed to construct two received optical fields corresponding to two orthogonal polarization components, E_(x)(t) and E_(y)(t). This processing may include one or more of (i) time and frequency synchronization, (ii) channel estimation and compensation, and (iii) phase estimation and compensation.

In a representative implementation, the time-synchronization procedure of step 202 relies on certain properties of pilot-symbol sequences to determine the start of each optical frame. The known structure of the optical frame can then be used to identify time slots that have digital samples and/or digital-signal portions corresponding to the optical symbols carrying the payload data. The frequency-synchronization procedure of step 202 performs electronic estimation and compensation of a mismatch between the carrier-frequency of input signal 130′ and the frequency of reference signal 158 (see FIG. 1). After the frequency offset is determined, frequency-mismatch can be compensated, e.g., by applying to each digital sample a phase shift equal to the frequency offset multiplied by 2π and the time elapsed between the start of the frame and the temporal position of the digital sample.

The channel-estimation/compensation procedure of step 203 performs electronic estimation and compensation of the phase and amplitude distortions imposed by optical transport link 140, due to effects such as chromatic dispersion and polarization-mode dispersion. The channel estimation relies on digital samples corresponding to pilot symbols to determine the channel-response function, H, of optical transport link 140. The inverse channel-response function H⁻¹ is then applied to the digital samples corresponding to payload data to perform channel compensation.

At step 204, phase estimation and phase compensation are performed, e.g., through the assistance of pilot symbols to correct or compensate for slowly changing phase shifts between input signal 130′ and reference signal 158 (FIG. 1). Various methods that can be used for this purpose are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2008/0152361 and 2008/0075472 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,688,918, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. In this manner the plurality of digital electrical signals are processed to generate a set of complex values representing a modulated payload symbol. At step 205, the recovered E-fields of phase-conjugated optical variants are further processed to remove the phase conjugation between them, followed by coherent summation. The coherent summation is mapped onto a constellation and a bit-word represented by the modulated payload symbol is determined based on the mapped summation. For the transmitter embodiment described by Eq. (4), step 205 is configured to obtain the original optical signal intended for transmission as follows

E(t)=E _(x)(t)+E _(y)(t+τ)*  (6)

At step 206, the recovered original optical signal field intended for transmission, E(t), is renormalized, demodulated, and FEC decoded to obtain payload data 102. Both hard-decision (HD) and soft-decision (SD) FEC codes can be used.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method 300 that can be employed by processor 170 (FIG. 1) to recover data stream 102 from digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄ according to another embodiment of the invention where phase-conjugated optical variants are carried at different time intervals of a same wavelength channel.

Steps 301-304 are the same as steps 201-204 in this embodiment. For the transmitter embodiment described by Eq. (5), step 305 is configured to obtain the original optical signal intended for transmission as follows

E(t)=E _(x)(t)+E _(x)(t+T)*, for t=nT, . . . (n+1)T−1

E(t)=E _(y)(t−T)+E _(y)(t)*, for t=(n+1)T, . . . (n+2)T−1  (7)

That is, the two sets of phase-conjugated optical variants that are delayed by T samples are in the x-polarization are summed, after the phase conjugation between them is removed, to determine the complex values representing the optical field of an optical version of a symbol sequence intended for transmission. A similar summation is done for the two sets of phase-conjugated optical variants in the y-polarization.

At step 206, the recovered original optical signal field, E(t), is renormalized, demodulated, and FEC decoded to obtain payload data 102.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system 400 according to another embodiment of the invention. System 400 has an optical transmitter 410 that is configured to transmit phase-conjugated optical variants that differ from each other in one or more of time, space, polarization, carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed (OFDM) systems. System 400 also has an optical receiver 490 that is configured to process the received optical variants to recover the corresponding original data in a manner that reduces the BER compared to the BER attainable without the use of optical variants. Transmitter 410 and receiver 490 are connected to one another via an optical transport link 440.

Transmitter 410 has a front-end circuit 416 having L electrical-to-optical (E/O) converters 116 ₁-116 ₁, (also see FIG. 1), each configured to use a different respective carrier wavelength selected from a specified set of wavelengths λ₁-λ_(L). Transmitter 410 further has a wavelength multiplexer (MUX) 420 configured to combine optical output signals 418 ₁-418 _(L) generated by E/O converters 116 ₁-116 _(L), respectively, and apply a resulting WDM signal 430 to an OADM 436 for adding it to the signals that are being transported through link 440.

Each of E/O converters 116 ₁-116 _(L) generates its respective optical output signal 418 based on a corresponding set 414 of digital signals supplied by a DSP 412. Each signal set 414 has four digital signals that are analogous to digital signals 114 ₁-114 ₄ (FIG. 1). Signal sets 414 ₁-414 _(L) are generated by DSP 412 based on an input data stream 402. When each of E/O converters 116 ₁-116 _(L) generates two phase-conjugated optical variants, the total number of phase-conjugated optical variants is then 2 L.

After propagating through link 440, signal 430 is dropped from the link (as signal 430′) via another optical add-drop multiplexer, OADM 446, and directed to receiver 490 for processing. Receiver 490 has a front-end circuit 472 comprising a wavelength de-multiplexer (DEMUX) 450 and L front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(L) (also see FIG. 1). Wavelength de-multiplexer (DEMUX) 450 is configured to de-multiplex signal 430′ into its constituent WDM components 452 ₁-452 _(L), each having a corresponding one of carrier wavelengths X₁-X_(L). Each of front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(L) then processes the corresponding one of signals 452 ₁-452 _(L), as described above in reference to FIG. 1, to generate a corresponding one of sets 468 ₁-468 _(L) of digital signals, with each set consisting of four digital signals analogous to digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄, respectively (see FIG. 1).

Signal sets 468 ₁-468 _(L) generated by front-end circuit 472 are processed by a DSP 470 to recover the data of original input stream 402 applied to transmitter 410.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of an optical transport system 500 according to yet another embodiment of the invention. System 500 has an optical transmitter 510 that can be configured to transmit optical variants, including phase-conjugated optical variants, that differ from each other in one or more of time, polarization, and space (as represented by a plurality of different propagation paths). System 500 also has an optical receiver 590 that is configured to process the received optical variants to recover the corresponding original data in a manner that reduces the BER compared to the BER attainable without the use of optical variants. Transmitter 510 and receiver 590 are connected to one another via an optical transport link comprising a multi-core fiber 540, different cores of which provide the plurality of propagation paths.

Transmitter 510 has an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter 516 that is analogous to E/O converter 116 (FIG. 1). Transmitter 510 further has an optical splitter 520 and an optical coupler 526. Optical splitter 520 is configured to split an optical output signal 518 generated by E/O converter 516 into J (attenuated) signal copies 522 ₁-522 _(J), where J is the number of cores in multi-core fiber 540. Optical coupler 526 is configured to couple each of signals 522 ₁-522 _(J) into a corresponding core of multi-core fiber 540.

E/O converter 516 is configured to generate optical output signal 518 based on a set 514 of four digital signals supplied by a DSP 512. The four signals of set 514 may be analogous to digital signals 114 ₁-114 ₄, respectively (see FIG. 1). Signal set 514 is generated by DSP 512 based on an input data stream 502.

In one configuration, the processing implemented in DSP 512 is generally analogous to method 200 (FIG. 2). Note, however, that optical splitter 520 and optical coupler 526 operate to increase the number of optical variants per bit-word by a factor of J. Thus, if signal 518 has n₁ optical variants per bit-word, then an output signal 530 generated in this configuration by transmitter 510 contains n₂ (=J×n₁) optical variants per bit-word.

After propagating through multi-core fiber 540, signal 530 is applied (as signal 530′) to receiver 590 for processing. Receiver 590 has an optical coupler 546 and a front-end circuit 572 comprising J front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(J) (also see FIG. 1). Optical coupler 546 is configured to direct light from each core of multi-core fiber 540 to a corresponding one of front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(J). Each of front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(J) then processes the signal received from optical coupler 546, as described above in reference to FIG. 1, to generate a corresponding one of sets 568 ₁-568 _(J), each having four digital signals analogous to digital signals 168 ₁-168 ₄, respectively (see FIG. 1). In one embodiment, front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(J) in receiver 590 share a single common OLO 156 (see FIG. 1).

Signal sets 568 ₁-568 _(J) generated by front-end circuit 572 are processed by a DSP 570 to recover the data of original input stream 502 applied to transmitter 510.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a signal-processing method 600 that can be employed by processor 470 (FIG. 4) or 570 (FIG. 5) to recover data stream 102 from digital signals 468 ₁-468 _(L) or 568 ₁-568 ₄ according to another embodiment of the invention where phase-conjugated optical variants are carried by wavelength channels or by different spatial paths.

Steps 601-604 are similar as steps 201-204, but process E-fields received by at least two front ends. For the transmitter embodiment described by Eq. (4), step 605 is configured to obtain the original optical signal intended for transmission as follows

E(t)=E _(1x)(t)+E _(1y)(t+τ)*+E _(2x)(t)+E _(2y)(t+τ)*,  (8)

where E_(1x)(t) and E_(1y)(t) are the recovered E-fields for front end 172 ₁, and E_(2x)(t) and E_(2y)(t) are the recovered E-fields for front end 172 ₂. First, two sets of phase-conjugated optical variants that are delayed by τ samples, orthogonally polarized, and carried by a first optical channel, are summed, after the phase conjugation between them is removed, to obtain a first set of summed values. Then another two sets of phase-conjugated optical variants that are delayed by τ samples, orthogonally polarized, and carried by a second channel, are summed, after the phase conjugation between them is removed, to obtain a second set of summed values. Finally, the two sets of summed values are added to determine the complex values representing the optical field of an optical version of a symbol sequence intended for transmission.

At step 606, the recovered original optical signal field, E(t), is renormalized, demodulated, and FEC decoded to obtain payload data 102.

While this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense.

Although phase-conjugated optical variants have been defined in the time domain through Eqs. (1) and (2), phase conjugation can also be realized in the frequency domain. As an example, two OFDM symbols can be phase-conjugated optical variants when the modulated subcarriers of the second OFDM symbol are complex conjugates of those of the first OFDM symbol. In effect, frequency-domain phase conjugation can be seen as time-domain phase conjugation plus time reversal.

Although system 500 (FIG. 5) has been described in reference to multi-core fiber 540, it can be adapted for use with a multi-mode fiber, wherein different guided modes of the multi-mode fiber provide the spatial degrees of freedom for the generation and transmission of optical variants. Representative optical couplers that can be used in conjunction with the multi-mode fiber in such a system are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2010/0329670 and 2010/0329671 and U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/986,468, filed on Jan. 7, 2011, and 12/827,284, filed on Jun. 30, 2010, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

In one embodiment, different cores of multi-core fiber 540 can be configured to concurrently transmit optical variants corresponding to different bit-words. It may beneficial, however, to configure multi-core fiber 540 so that, at any time, at least two of its cores transmit optical variants corresponding to the same bit-word.

Furthermore, system 500 can be modified in a relatively straightforward manner to use optical variants that differ from each other in one or more of time, polarization, carrier wavelength, and space. In one embodiment, such a modification can be accomplished, e.g., by (i) replacing E/O converter 516 by front-end circuit 416, (ii) replacing each of front-end circuits 172 ₁-172 _(J) by a corresponding instance of front-end circuit 472, and (iii) appropriately reconfiguring DSPs 512 and 570 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

In various alternative embodiments of methods 200, 300, and 600, the order of certain processing steps may be changed to differ from the order indicated in FIGS. 2 3, and 6, respectively.

Various modifications of the described embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention, which are apparent to persons skilled in the art to which the invention pertains are deemed to lie within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and range should be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or “approximately” preceded the value of the value or range.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the following claims.

The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claims is intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimed subject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims. Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope of those claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.

Although the elements in the following method claims, if any, are recited in a particular sequence with corresponding labeling, unless the claim recitations otherwise imply a particular sequence for implementing some or all of those elements, those elements are not necessarily intended to be limited to being implemented in that particular sequence.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarily mutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term “implementation.”

Also for purposes of this description, the terms “couple,” “coupling,” “coupled,” “connect,” “connecting,” or “connected” refer to any manner known in the art or later developed in which energy is allowed to be transferred between two or more elements, and the interposition of one or more additional elements is contemplated, although not required. Conversely, the terms “directly coupled,” “directly connected,” etc., imply the absence of such additional elements.

The present inventions may be embodied in other specific apparatus and/or methods. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive. In particular, the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the description and figures herein. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

A person of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that steps of various above-described methods can be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some embodiments are intended to cover program storage devices, e.g., digital data storage media, which are machine or computer readable and encode machine-executable or computer-executable programs of instructions where said instructions perform some or all of the steps of methods described herein. The program storage devices may be, e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as a magnetic disks or tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storage media. The embodiments are also intended to cover computers programmed to perform said steps of methods described herein.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.

The functions of the various elements shown in the figures, including any functional blocks labeled as “processors,” may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by a processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors, some of which may be shared. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” or “controller” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and non volatile storage. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Similarly, any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function may be carried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicated logic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by the implementer as more specifically understood from the context.

It should be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flowcharts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising an optical receiver, the optical receiver comprising: a front-end circuit configured to convert at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying a same modulated payload symbol into a corresponding plurality of digital electrical signals; and a processor configured to: process the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate a set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol; sum the complex values of the set to generate a summed complex value; map the summed complex value onto a constellation; and determine based on the mapped summed complex value a bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants differ from one another in one or more of polarization, time of arrival at the optical receiver, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are complex conjugates in the time domain.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are complex conjugates in the frequency domain.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants includes an optical version of a symbol for transmission.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein another of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants includes a complex conjugate version of the optical version of the symbol for transmission with a constant phase rotation.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor is configured to undo phase conjugation of the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants, and generate at least two complex values representing the symbol intended for transmission.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants are orthogonally polarized.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a polarization-diversity transmitter for generating at least two orthogonally-polarized phase-conjugated optical variants.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the front-end circuit comprises at least one polarization-diversity optical hybrid and at least one optical local oscillator.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the front-end circuit comprises at least four analog-to-digital convertors (ADCs).
 12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the front-end circuit comprises a wavelength de-multiplexer configured to de-multiplex the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants.
 13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the front-end circuit comprises an optical coupler configured to spatially de-multiplex the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a medium for conveying the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants, wherein the medium is one or more of single-mode fiber, multi-core-fiber, fiber bundle, and multi-mode fiber.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the processor configured to determine the bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol is configured to determine a FEC-based error correction based on a sequence of mapped constellations for a sequence of same modulated payload symbols.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor configured to process the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate the set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol is configured to perform one or more of time synchronization, channel estimation, channel compensation, frequency estimation, frequency compensation, phase estimation, and phase compensation.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein processing the plurality of digital electrical signals includes use of pilot symbols.
 18. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an optical transmitter configured to generate a second set of at least two phase-conjugated optical variants in response to a symbol of an input payload data stream, the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants of the second set differing from one another in one or more of polarization, time of transmission, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency.
 19. A method of optical communication comprising: converting, at an optical receiver, at least two phase-conjugated optical variants carrying a same modulated payload symbol into a corresponding plurality of digital electrical signals; processing the plurality of digital electrical signals to generate a set of complex values representing the same modulated payload symbol; summing the complex values of the set to generate a summed complex value; mapping the summed complex value onto a constellation; and determining based on the mapped summed complex value a bit-word represented by the same modulated payload symbol.
 20. An apparatus comprising an optical transmitter configured to generate at least two phase-conjugated optical variants in response to a symbol of an input payload data stream, the at least two phase-conjugated optical variants differing from one another in one or more of polarization, time of transmission, spatial localization, optical carrier wavelength, and subcarrier frequency. 